My name is Sister Ellen Magallanes. This will be a record of my missionary experiences as I serve in the Australia Adelaide mission (Dec 2013 - Jun 2015). Come witness my journey, my joys and sorrows, my triumphs and tribulations and I pray you will leave inspired and you will see and feel the love of God as it works miracles in my life, and in the lives of all of God's children.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

So in the Mount Barker remix for this week, I have learned several
things. Right now in our area, our teaching pool is very small so we are
focusing very much on finding. Always, always finding. But I am very blessed my
companion is a master-finder and she is showing me the way!

Another little highlight for me. Sometimes in lessons, Sister Goisisi
quotes what I say and uses it as a parable of sorts for the lesson!!! It is so
funny and it also really touches me. For example, last week, driving to Murray
Bridge along the 110km/h freeway and eating lunch at the same time (don't try
this at home kids) I was congratulating myself on not running over the lines -
because the lines are bumpy and shake the car to let you know - and to put it
into context, I am still a fairly new driver. And my companion just said, ít's
okay companion! everybody drives on the line!' and I replied, ''if we both
drove on the line, then we would crash" and she turned it into an analogy
of living life on the edge versus truly living the commandments.

I've also been suffering from hay fever headaches (new predicament) and
it flares up excessively whenever it is combined with dogs or cats - of which I
have found I am much more allergic to than I used to be before my mission. So
that has been a pain (I sneeze very violently it seems) but we persevere! The
work goes on!
I also wanted to share with you all the media campaign happening in Adelaide.
So you are supposed to post a picture of yourself on your social media site
with the hashtag "'I pray when''and it is very funny because I barely know
what hash tags are used for - this is what happens on your mission, you lose
touch with technology, my little sister was ending her emails with double hash
tag means well known or something ... but we decided to add some of our own :D
I pray when I need to! I pray when I want to talk to God. I pray when I want to
ask God for blessings upon those around me. I pray when I am lonely, when I am
happy, when I am sad. I pray when I am homesick. I pray when people are unkind
to us. I pray when my companion talks in a lesson. I pray when I want to know
God's will. I pray when I want to know the truth.
I love to pray! So, feel free to join in on this media campaign. I think it is
very cute. :)

I think another highlight of the week would be this young man we met
just when we were leaving our flat. He said pretty clearly that he was Atheist
but he was willing to listen to our message and unfortunately he doesn't live
in our area, but we left him with a copy of the Book of Mormon and he wants to
read it! Whenever I think of Atheists I think of Alma's words to Korihor: all
things denote there is a God. I know this is true. And I can feel it. In any
case, we left him with our number and then just as we were about to leave, we
asked him, so what were you doing here on the nature walk (right in front of
our flat) anyway? And he wasn't waiting for someone to pick him up, he had just
wandered there, right across our path. Truly, my prayer to be led to those
seeking us is being answered! Everyday!

I also wanted to share with you a little excerpt from President
Uchtdorf's talk at the General Women's Meeting. It fits with my visual
depiction of his concept. He said that some people believe that God has a whole
load of blessings locked up in a cloud, and that he only unlocks it when we
keep his commandments. This is not true. In fact, God pours blessings upon us
constantly, in fact, he rains it upon us! But when we sin or are prideful or
doubt, it acts like an umbrella, preventing us from receiving all of God's
blessings. So let's all put whatever makes up our individual umbrellas down,
and experience God's blessings as he wants us to. :)

What a week! So for those who do not know, last weekend was General
Conference weekend and the whole world had the mighty privilege of hearing from
the Lord through the living Apostles and Prophet counsel for our day. The
broadcast is recorded in Salt Lake City and then distributed to all the
world - chapels and families and individuals watch it and learn. And I
really wanted to be able to share with you all what I gained from conference,
as well as to let you know how my week went in general. So here it goes! ps -
not mentioning every speaker. To revel in that awesome experience, I recommend
you watch the conference yourself!

Elder Robins

Courage is the form of every virtue at the form of breaking point.
Pilate was merciful until it became too hard.

This really related to my past week because my companion, Sister Goisisi
is a master contacter! She is fearless is having conversations with people and
her love for everyone is irrepressible. You can see it in her face. And as I
strive to follow in her footsteps, and leave my fears behind and invite
everyone I meet to listen to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, with all that
fear gone I've found courage and excitement in its wake.

He also left with a commission to do good as anonymously as possible.
And I witnessed that this week when my companion let a kid have a go on her
bike (he wanted to show us a trick) and it blessed her much more than she
anticipated when he was able to realise that her bike wasn't assembled properly
and with the proper tools which he fortunately had in his backpack he was able
to reassemble it! which made much smoother riding. Which is great, because we
have been riding a lot lately and Mount Barker my new area is gorgeous.

Elder Wong

His take on the palsy story was so cool! he asked us all, do we know
anyone who is spiritually paralysed and needs our help? He also invited Bishops
to make better use of the Ward Council and to use the surging missionary force
(my companion and I did a little fist pump) because they are eager and they are
there. And my eyes burned because I felt it. I could feel how much this work
meant to me and all I really want to do right now in my life is to be of
service to God. And if our leaders knew that and knew how much we loved work,
loved being busy, love being asked to minister or to teach people then maybe we
would be in close harmony with the wards in which we serve. In any case..

Elder Christofferson

CJ Miles if you read my blog, I think you'd like his talk. You can
probably find it inlds.organd look up general conference and look up his name and he should be in
a Saturday session and it was awesome! It appealed to the part of me that
studied law and grappled with those concepts in my deeper studies of the
scriptures. One can very much be educated and religious. Scientific and
religious. Anything and religious. Anyone can be religious!

Elder Oaks

Well, I basically loved how he called the world to repentance. He quoted
someone and said 'though we disagree, we need not be disagreeable' and I was
just reflecting on his style and how the world needs boldness right now.

Elder Anderson

He spoke about Joseph Smith and invited the youth to gain a testimony of
his prophetic role in the restoration of the gospel themselves. And I just want
it on the record also that my testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith has grown
immeasurably since I've been out on my mission. It has been cemented. And every
time we quote his words, his testimony as he relates the visitation of Heavenly
Father and Jesus Christ in the First Vision - no matter the environment or the
investigator, the Spirit of the Lord is always felt. Those who were heated calm
down, those who wanted to talk pause to listen instead. And, it is just so
powerful! Every time!

Elder Gavarett

He helped me to cement my purpose as a missionary and he reminded me
that the message that I give is the Saviour's message.

Elder Holland

He quoted a journalist who said about Mother Theresa's work
'statistically speaking, her work was nothing.' But Christianity is not a
statistical endeavour! He also said in Preach My Gospel that 'these people are
not lifeless objects disguised as baptismal statitisics. They are children of
God, our brothers and sisters, and they need what we have.' And the missionary
focus tied in very well with Elder Bednar's talk on Sunday afternoon on why we
share the gospel.

Elder Hales

Asked a question that I loved. He asked, do you remember the first time
you know there was God and felt His love?
And I would like to share an experience connected to that that happened over
the week. So my companion and I were bike riding down a slope when she saw
someone sitting there as we whizzed by. We knew we had to turn around to talk
to her - we felt it. And as we did, we got to know her a little bit. She was 15
years old and she opened up and my companion shared how not all families are
nuclear or picture perfect but how she knew God loved her individually. And as
the girl was having a moment, I related Joseph Smith's experience in the sacred
grove to her. And she said 'that was powerful.' And then she explained how just
as we rode by, she had run away from home for a bit and she was praying to God
and asking if He was there and if He was, whether He was mindful of her when we
stopped to talk to her and to tell her from our very souls that God lives and
loves her and is mindful of her and had put us in each others paths that day.
It is such a blessing to be an instrument in the hand of the Lord. I remember
when I first knew that God was there and felt His love. And I was very blessed
to watch this girl realise it for the first time also.

And I would like to close this general conference edition of the blog
with words from our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson.
he said (according to my notes) to be a little better, be a little kinder,
associate and respect those not of our faith. He said to remember the elderly
and home-bound. And he promised us blessings from heaven, to come home safely,
to become more valiant disciples and he left the Lord's blessings upon all of
us.

I know that President Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet of God. He is the
Lord's mouthpiece. God speaks to us today just as much as he did in ancient
times. And through his prophet, God has called me to serve in Adelaide for a
period of 18 months. I love this gospel, I love being a missionary. And most of
all, I love that you don't have to rely on what I say, but you can know these
things too. And God will speak to you through His Spirit, and you can know.

Sincerely Yours

Sister Magallanes

Editor's Note: What were some of your favourite highlights during this most recent General's Conference? Sister Magallanes would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below or write her a letter: